Photo Shoots on TV

I don't take a lot of people shots, and especially not a lot of portraits and stuff. But I would like to take more.

So I look at portraits on EPZ, read about portraiture in magazines, and watch programs on TV where they show shoots with models.

Of late that has meant watching Coleen's Real Women, Make Me a Super Model, and bits and pieces of the programs about that horrible woman, what's her name again - Janice Dickinson. (Talk about an employer from hell, what a horrible person to work with. Hope she has a good psychiatrist...) I only watch bits and pieces of that, mind, because I can't stand watching her for too long.

Anyway, what was I about to say. Oh, right. Shoots with models.

I quite like what Coleen ( McLoughlin ) does. (For those who don't know the show, this is quite a good summary.) She has enough money to just relax and do nothing for the rest of her life, but she has made it her mission to give "real women" a chance to model for nationwide advertising campaigns. A good thing, I think, because too many girls and women have had the idea for too long that you have to be stick thin in order to look good. Very unhealthy idea, and the sooner the world sees that it's unrealistic, the better. (I quite like what the Spanish do - I'm told that in Spain you have to have a certain body mass index, or you can't participate in things like fashion shows. Great idea - more countries should do it.)

What I like so much about the whole Real Women thing, is that Coleen just picks these women from people she sees on the street. (Okay, you can also register for a casting day through a web site, but so far the women chosen for campaigns have been hand picked by Coleen and her adviser on the street.) This tells me that finding a good-looking model isn't something that takes a lot of capital or resources. It does take some courage, but I'm working on that...

And I enjoy watching the photo shoots. There are ways to make even shorter and bigger women look good, they don't all have to be a size 4! Moreover, some of those women wouldn't have been picked by me as being that photogenic, but once the stylist, the make-up artist and the photographer are through: Wow!

I've picked up a few good ideas already, so I've given myself the green light for watching more of these "girlie shows". Is that a good excuse or what ... ?!!